Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency

[Guest guest]

Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency. This is a combined pattern in which

both

are present.

 

" Clinical manifestations

 

" Swallow complexion, dull occipital or vertical headache, insomnia,

dream-disturbed sleep, numbness of limbs, malar flush, dizziness, dry

eyes,

blurred vision, propensity to outburst of anger, soreness of the

lower back,

dry throat, tinnitus, night sweating, feeling of heat of palms and

soles,

difficult-dry stools, nocturnal emissions, scanty menstruation or

amenorrhoea, delayed cycle, in women infertility. "

 

(My notes: The occipital part of the skull or head is the lower,

back part.

A " malar " flush is a redness which is not uniform but blotchy.

(Uniform

reddness points to Excess Heat, a blotchy redness points to

Deficiency Heat

(aka, Yin Deficiency). Yin cools, calms, and moistens. Yin

Deficiency is

characterized by Heat, aggitation, and Dryness because there is not

enough

Yin to properly cool, calm, and moisten the body. Tinnitus is a

ringing in

the ears. Any time there is problems with the ears or hearing,

suspect and

rule in or rule out Kidney imbalance because the Kidneys " open into

the

ears " . The Liver " opens " into the eyes, so suspect and rule in or

out Liver

imbalance whenever there are problems with the eyes or vision. Low

back

pain is a characteristic of Kidney imbalance in general. It could be

Kidney

Qi, Yang, Yin, or Jing (Essence) Deficiency. The symptom of lower

back pain

does not tell you which specific Kidney imbalance, only that a Kidney

imbalance likely is present. Night sweats point very strongly to Yin

Deficiency. The heat in the palms and soles also points to Yin

Deficiency.

In some texts you will see this described as " 5-Palm Heat " . The heat

not

only will be felt in the palms of the hand and the soles of the feet,

but on

the chest. As mentioned in an earlier post, dizziness can have a Root

of

Wind, Fire, Phlegm, and/or Qi Deficiency. Two of the 3 conditions

which can

cause Interior Wind are Liver Yang Rising and Liver Blood

Deficiency. Liver

Yang can only rise if Liver Yin is Deficient.)

 

" Tongue: Red-Peeled, cracked. " ( " Peeled " means without coating.)

 

" Pulse: Floating-Empty or Choppy.

 

" Key symptoms: dry eyes, dry throat, night sweating, scanty

menstruation,

Red-Peeled tongue.

 

" Pathology

 

" This pattern includes symptoms and signs of both Liver- and Kidney-

Yin

deficiency, bearing in mind that Liver-Yin deficiency embodies Liver-

Blood

deficiency. The Kidneys correspond to Water and should nourish the

Liver,

which corresponds to Wood. Thus the Yin and Blood of the Liver are

dependent on the nourishment of Kidney-Yin and Kidney-Essence. " (This

is 5

Element theory. Water is the " mother " of Wood. Water generates

Wood. If

Water is weak, it can't properly produce Wood. The " son " , Wood, will

be weak

because the " mother " , Water is weak and can't properly nourish it.

The

Water Organs are the Kidneys and Bladder; the Wood Organs are the

Liver and

Gall Bladder. It's common for both the Kidneys and the Liver to be Yin

Deficient. In these cases the Kidneys also will have to be tonified.

The

Kidneys supply the Yin and Yang to the rest of the body.)

 

" Dry eyes are a symptom of Liver-Yin deficiency, due to the Yin of

the Liver

being unable to moisten the eyes. Sallow compexion, dream-disturbed

sleep,

insomnia, numbness, blurred vision and scanty menstruation or

amenorrhoea,

are all symptoms of Liver-Blood deficiency which is part of Liver-Yin

deficiency.

 

" The headache is also due to Liver-Blood deficiency and would be

either on

the occiput (related to the Kidney) or on the vertex of the head

(related to

the Liver channel). When Liver-Yin is deficient, Liver-Yang may

ascend, in

which case the headache would be on the temples and be of a throbbing

rather

than dull character.

 

" All the other symptoms are due to deficiency of Yin of the Kidneys

and some

Empty-Heat, all of which have already been explained.

 

" The infertility in women would be due both to deficient Liver-Blood

failing

to nourish the uterus, and to deficient Kidney-Essence unable to

promote con

ception.

 

" The pulse will be either Floating-Empty reflecting the Yin

deficiency, or

Choppy reflecting only a Blood deficiency, particularly in the

beginning

stages of the condition. " (A Floating pulse is one that can be felt

with

just a slight pressure on the wrist. It usually indicates an Exterior

condition, but it also can indicate (Interior) Yin Deficiency.

An " Empty "

pulse is one that feels hollow when more pressure is applied. With

light

pressure, the pulse may feel " big " , but increase the pressure and

there is

no real pressure in the pulse. It's soft and empty. An empty pulse

also

can point to Qi Deficiency. A Choppy pulse " feels rough under the

finger:

instead of a smooth puse wave, it feels as if it had a jagged edge to

it.

Choppy also indicates a pulse that changes rapidly both in rate and

quality. " (Foundations, p. 168.) This is an example of why the pulse

can be

so key in narrowing down diagnosis and being able to fine-tune

treatment.)

 

" Aetiology

 

" This is the same as for Kidney-Yin deficiency and Liver-Blood

deficiency,

but with the additional component of emotional problems due to anger,

frustration and depression. (Any time anger and frustration are

present,

suspect Liver imbalance.)

 

" This pattern may also develop from Liver-Blood and Liver-Yin

deficiency.

 

" Treatment

 

Principle of treatment: nourish Liver and Kidney Yin. "

 

He then suggests the following points for Liver and Kidney Yin

Deficiency:

Kidney 3 to tonify the Kidneys, Kidney 6 to tonify Kidney Yin, Liver

8 to

tonify Liver Blood and Liver Yin,

Ren 4 to tonify Kidney Yin and Kidney Essence, Bladder 23 and Bladder

20 to

tonify Blood, Bladder 17 and Bladder 18 to tonify Liver Blood (he

says that

direct moxa can be used on Bl 17 to tonify Blood), Bladder 10 for

occipital

headache, and Du 20 for vertical headache ( " moxa could be used if

Liver-Blood deficiency predominates over Liver-Yin deficiency " ).

(Giovanni

Maciocia, The Foundations of , pp. 259-260.)

 

Victoria